The Internet Says It's True...

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."Inigo Montoya to Vizzini ~ The Princess Bride.

Say what you want about opinions -- we still greatly value them as we use your comments to help us improve the customer experience. But some of the things people say about us may not mean what you think they mean. Since we're in the service business just as much as (or even more than) the candy business, we want to address a few common concerns.

1) Your shipping is expensive and costs as much as the product that I ordered.

Here's the truth -- it costs a lot to ship candy. As opposed to an item like clothing or jewelery, candy tends to be bulky, heavy, or both. Candy is also perishable, and that means we have to keep time in transit as short as possible. Believe it or not, it can cost as much to ship a small box of lollipops as it does 10 pounds of candy depending on where the package is going! Truse me, it drives us crazy too.....

To deliver the best value, most of our orders ship for free. All you have to do to qualify is place an order over $49.95. As this is the lowest FREE SHIPPING threshold of any online candy company, this makes our site super cheap for anyone ordering in bulk, stocking up on multiple items, or sharing an order with friends.

To make up for high shipping costs, most companies charge more for each product and require you to buy a certain amount of candy before they'll sell it to you. If all you want is a box of BB Bats in time for grandma's birthday, we let you do that. So we don't require a minimum order size, but we do have to pass on the shipping costs on those small orders. Our $9.95 FLAT RATE shipping is still one of the lowest in the industry and applies to any order below $49.95, as well as any order that doesn't qualify for free shipping.

2) Your ad says that you offer FREE SHIPPING but it wasn’t offered to me when I checked out.

Almost all of our products -- including Colored M&M's -- qualify for FREE SHIPPING as long as your order is over $49.95. If the order is below this amount, you can opt for Flat Rate Shipping which at only $9.95 is amongst the LOWEST in our industry.

If you are close to the threshold, why not order a few more items to qualify? They'll pay for themselves as it equivalent to getting $10 off the product that you choose to reach $49.95. Can't beat that, can you?

3) It is really hot where I live. How can I ensure that my candy arrives in perfect condition?

This is a tough question, as most candy will melt if it's exposed to warm temperatures. We do not sell a different kind of magical candy bar than everyone else that doesn't melt during a heat wave in Nevada although the Hershey's Desert Bar did come close. We also don't spend all our shipping money to teleport your candy across the country so that it skips the hot states on its way to you.

We do make every effort to ensure that your candy spends the shortest possible time in transit. At the checkout, we offer ice packs and thermo cases. We've posted tons of information about hot weather shipping. If you don't choose the options to properly protect your order, we will contact you and suggest that you use expedited service or add some protection to your order. Sometimes this is a hassle, but other companies just ship orders as they're placed, even when they know they'll melt. We don’t want to lose your order by bringing up the issue, but we would rather not ship an order if we can’t ensure that it will arrive in perfect condition.

4) My candy arrived and looks or tastes differently than I remember.

Changes to classic candy formulas are just as disappointing to us as they are to you. We are all about preserving access to old-school candy. But when one of our vendors changes a candy formula, we don't just dump them from our inventory. We're usually not even copied on the memo.

It's important to remember that we are a wholesaler and not the manufacturer. Products and packaging change on a very regular (too regular) basis. We do our best to keep our product pages accurate when we become aware of changes. If you actually didn't receive what you ordered, by all means contact us!

All candy that leaves our warehouse is inspected to ensure that it is fresh and in perfect condition.

5) I've been eating this candy all my life, and now all of a sudden it says "Made in Mexico"!

Candy makers change their production locations nearly as often as they change their formulas. Again, we have to chalk this one up to the fact that we're a wholesaler, not a manufacturer. It's out of our hands. But what IS in our control is who we hire. We're one of America's oldest candy wholesalers, a third-generation family business, and we've been operating out of the same location in McKeesport, PA (just outside of Pittsburgh) for 87 years. We've created hundreds of jobs for local people over the years, and our taxes go right to the city of McKeesport.

Whenever we get a new product that's proudly and reliably made in the USA, we try to add that little nugget to the product's page on our site.